This blog features news, pictures and event info to keep you updated with what is happening in the world of South African graffiti and street art.

Festigraff is a festival of artistic experimentation - an exhibition of paintings, graffiti and pictures, as well as workshops and lectures. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of African graffiti, and bring them through exchanges with artists from around the world, a reflection on media and alternatives, techniques specific to an “African School” graffiti.

Teaming up after a graffiti painting trip to United Arab Emirates, Rizah Potgieter aka Prefix66 (CPT) and Amo aka Ariel23 (JHB), have collaborated on some artworks for a mind blowing exhibition in Cape Town:

The Jo’burg clash is going to be even more epic as Rasty will take on an 53m wall wall in Braamfontein on 28 & 29 March. The wall is at South Point, corner of Melle and Jorissen streets. Remember that your ideas can become a reality - Tweet any word or idea with the hashtags #ClashWall #JHB, and follow @Converse_Africa to keep up with the progress. This is gonna rock!

Please join us for a drink at Two By Two Art Studio in Newtown on Thursday 27 March 2014, from 6pm. The artworks will be on display for one month. The exhibition is open to all and there is no cover charge.

There will be a 90 minute tour arranged on the evening to view the Newtown graffiti art, created by many of the contributing artists. Booking is limited and the cost is R110 per person for the tour which begins at 5:30pm.

Two By Two Art Studio in Newtown, Johannesburg is a diverse space with a whole lot of exciting events coming up in the next few weeks.

This Friday, they host the launch of the new clothing range by SA Hip Hop brand Butan Wear in collaboration with graffiti crew Demolition Squad, followed by the second installment of the graffiti and street art group show, AKA. Then, in April, two young illustrators, Rayaan Cassiem (Cape Town) and Nic Hooper (Johannesburg), join forces for their exhibition, Media Monster.

We spoke to Juliet and Tanner about their studio to find out more…

Tell me about your gallery.

Two By Two Art Studio is a multi-functional project space. We use it as a base to work from, but also host monthly exhibition openings and various events.

What made you want to open an art gallery?

The gallery is a labour of love. We use it to show the kind of art we would like to see. Coming out of art school in 2006, there weren’t really many places for young artists to exhibit. Instead of fighting over the same piece of pie we decided to make our own.

Where does the name Two By Two come from?

Tanner opened an arts supplies shop in Linden, just over 3 years ago. He used the name Two By Two as a personal tribute to his father, who initiated the idea many years ago. The art shop was Tanner’s creative interpretation of this.

What kind of art do you showcase?

The exhibitions are mostly graffiti and street art influenced, although the gallery space has been used for performance installations and fine art exhibitions too.

After hosting a few graffiti art exhibits, including the first AKA group show and Mars’ solo show, what do you think about graffiti stepping out of the streets and into a white wall gallery?

We don’t see graffiti stepping off the streets and into a white-walled gallery. Graffiti belongs on the streets. We are showing the artists that are involved in making that art. They are the ones who are tackling those issues for themselves. For each artist it’s a personal transition, for example Mars was very careful in how he chose to show himself as a studio artist. The process was very different for him, as it would be for anyone used to painting walls. As soon as the scale and format changes, the image is influenced and it becomes an object in its own right regardless of its origin.

What do you think about the current state of art in South Africa?

There’s a lot of positive growth and opportunities in the arts if you’re willing to make it happen. Being able to survive off our talents and skills is a big thing for artists and while it’s tough territory, it is still possible. We live in interesting times and we look forward to seeing people being more creative for the sake of creativity. The local art community is small but not completely saturated. As far as we see it, there’s still lots of room to grow.

Anything else planned for the rest of the year? Or anything that you would like to share with our readers?

We have Back To The City festival happening on 27 April, Freedom Day. The annual graffiti competition takes place around the Newtown highway pillars. We’re really excited about seeing what people come up with this year. There are plenty of upcoming exhibitions after that. The best place to keep up with current events is on the Facebook page.

Find out more about their upcoming events:

A teaser video for the upcoming documentary, Painting Cape Town, has been released. Based on the 2013 book by Matthew Olckers, with the same title, the film will reveal a more in-depth look into Cape Town’s graffiti scene. Directed by Katey Carson, featuring interviews with prominent writers.

Germany and South Africa cross paths as Dee One from Bremen and Roger Williams from Cape Town collaborate in a cross-media exhibition of their work. The two artists meet for the first time in Cape Town as they present their work at the Black Box Gallery, followed by the official VIP dinner and after-event at True Italic art cafe, with performances by DJ Azuhl, DJ Phax Mulder and VJ State of the Art. Opening night is on 3 April 2014 at the Black Box Gallery, 52 Church Street, Cape Town, at 17:30.

The launch of the latest range of clothing by Butan Wear SA in collaboration with the Demolition Squad.

“Maneuvering through the precarious streets of Johannesburg one can’t help but notice a particularly emphasised name: DEMOLITIONSQUAD. Established in 1999, DS has undoubtedly become one of the most prolific graffiti crews in South Africa. The crew consists of five artists; TAPZ, MARS, TYKE, FIYA and AYBE, who have been flying the flag “high above the toys” since its inception. This garment was created by fusing street level graffiti knowledge with cutting edge street wear design, resulting in a piece of art that reflects not only our collective passion for street culture, but offers a unique perspective of our world through the eyes of our generation.”

Limited edition clothing including caps and T-shirts will be on sale on the evening. Get yours before they hit the shops.

As shared on our Facebook page, Faith47 has recently completed a new large-scale mural in Cape Town in collaboration with Design Indaba and Thingking. The mural, entitled ‘Harvest’, is painted near one of Cape Town’s busiest highways and aims to combine street art and social awareness. This project, #ANOTHERLIGHTUP, is a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds and install much needed street lights in the Monwabisi Park informal settlement in Khayelitsha. Every time a donation is made, the mural lights up for an evening.